Hanging bag with detachable cowl

ABSTRACT

A flexible folding garment bag having a detachable cowl is described. The cowl covers the open upper ends of the front panels of the bag and is provided with an interior compartment and means for hanging the cowl in either a vertical or horizontal orientation while removed from. Alternatively, the cowl can be attached to the rear of the bag or folded to expose the closure means on the front of the bag.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates to elongated hanging bags or garment bags of thetype having a vertical fastening means, such as a zipper, along a frontpanel of the bag, the panel being unattached to the body of the bagalong its upper edge. Typically, such a garment bag has a zipper runningsubstantially the entire length down the front of the bag, dividing thefront into two panels. The panels are secured at the bottom and sides ofthe bag. Since the panels are unattached at the top, however, an openingin that part of the bag requires additional means for protecting andshielding the contents of the bag and also requires means for coveringthe zipper slide member to reduce the liklihood of the bag being openedinadvertently, or by intrusions of others.

One method used to cover the top of the zipper and front panels has beento sew a permanent cowl to the top and sides of the upper portion of thebag, leaving the cowl open along its bottom. The cowl bottom extends asufficient distance down the bag to satisfactorily cover the top of thezippered panels. This has been somewhat unsatisfactory and users of suchbags often find the cowl a substantial inconvenience because itinterferes with locating the zipper slide. Also, the cowl is physicallyand psychologically confining, and it is a hindrance to the ease withwhich the user can gain access to the hanger trolley assembly to insertindividual hangers and clothing into the bag or remove them from it.

One method contemplated for reducing the inconvenience of traditionalcowls is to design them in separable halves, zippered together at themiddle. By unzipping the cowl vertically up the middle, the main bagzipper could then be exposed. However, with the cowls fixed at the ends,the halves still would present an awkward barrier in using the bag.Conversely, by providing only zippers at the ends and none in themiddle, the cowl could be loosened into a flap, but it would still hangover the main bag zipper and block the interior from visual inspection.Even by providing zippers at the ends and the middle of the cowl, theoverall result would merely be to have two flaps hanging down. (Also,such zipper-laden cowls would be decidedly unattractive.)

In short, the conventional cowl, and other variations previouslycontemplated for such cowls, have only modest utility, yet they haveconsiderable undesirable characteristics. Accordingly, it has long beenfelt desirable to provide a garment bag with some device or means havingall the desirable characteristics of a conventional cowl, along withother advantageous features, without its disadvantages.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

This invention contemplates a hanging bag or garment bag, sometimesreferred to as a valet pack or portable wardrobe, having an elongatedvertical main receptacle or compartment, the interior of which isaccessable from the front, with closure means terminating adjacent thetop of the receptacle, and a removable cowl covering a portion of thefront of the receptacle adjacent the top. The removable cowl may itselfbe constructed as a small receptacle and may be equipped with means forhanging it independently of the main receptacle, for example, on aconventional closet hanger. The cowl and main receptacle may also beequipped with means for hanging the cowl on the side or rear of the mainreceptacle to permit ready access to the interior of either.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a front perspective view of a garment bag with attached cowl,the bag being in unfolded condition for hanging vertically from anindependent support;

FIG. 2 is a fragmentary front perspective of the upper end portion ofthe bag showing the removable cowl partially detached from the mainreceptacle for access to the top thereof;

FIG. 3 is a rear perspective of the bag showing both ends of the cowlsecured to one side of the main receptacle;

FIG. 4 is a fragmentary rear perspective of the upper end portion of thebag showing the cowl after it has been removed from the front of themain receptacle and attached to the rear thereof;

FIG. 5 is a front elevation of the cowl detached from the mainreceptacle and hung separately on a clothes hanger; and

FIG. 6 is a perspective view of the garment bag in folded condition forcarrying.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

FIGS. 1 and 3 show the front and rear of a garment bag 10 having a mainreceptacle or compartment 12. A zipper closure means 14 is provided onthe front for gaining or excluding access to the interior of thereceptacle. A detachable or removable cowl 16 is affixed to the upperend portion of the main receptacle 12 by means of a separating zipper18. The cowl 16 can be detached from the main receptacle by simplymoving slide member 20 of zipper 18 from the right hand side of the bagacross the top and down the left side until it is disengaged.

The vertical zipper 14 of the main receptacle 12 divides the front ofthe main receptacle into a pair of front wall panels 22 and 24, whichtogether with rear wall panel 26, and peripheral wall panel 28, form thegenerally rectangular configuration of the main compartment 12.

The main compartment 12 and the detachable cowl 16 may be comprised of aflexible material such as heavy duty nylon fabric to allow the bag to becollapsed or folded for carrying or storage. A hanger hook 30 isconnected to the top of main receptacle 12 by connecting means 32. Thehanger hook 30 is designed to be used when the garment bag is inunfolded condition as shown in FIGS. 1 and 3, to suspend the bagvertically from an external support member (not shown) such as a closetbar. When the hanger hook is not in use, it can be stored and retainedby securing means 34 which may comprise a fabric stay with a detachablesnap, or the like, for securing the hook.

As shown in FIG. 2, access to the interior of main receptacle 12 can bereadily achieved by simply partially, or completely, unzipping zipperclosure member 18 and folding, or removing, cowl 16 from the maincompartment 12 to expose slide member 42 of zipper closure means 14. Asshown in FIG. 2, an opening 40 is defined by the top edges of front wallpanels 22 and 24, since those edges are not attached to the top portionof peripheral wall panel 28. Thus, when zipper slide member 42 is pulseddownwardly, the two front wall panels 22 and 24, may be folded back toexpose the interior of the bag, and gain access to the hanger trolleyassembly (not shown) where clothing hangers, and the like, are stored.

The cowl member 16 has particularly advantageous features in the garmentbag of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 1, the cowl member 16includes front wall members 50 and 52 and a diagonal zipper closuremeans 53, the front wall members 50 and 52 being sewn or otherwisesecured at their periphery to rear wall member 54 (shown in FIG. 2).Secured to the rear wall member 54, are horizontal buckle latches 56,which are attached by flexible web members 58 sewn to rear wall member54. Also secured to the cowl adjacent one upper corner is hanger loop60, whose use will be described hereinafter.

FIG. 3 shows the cowl 16 secured in a folded position by engaging bucklelatch 56 with buckle receiver 70, the latter being affixed by means offlexible web 71 to the upper end portion of the garment bag.

FIG. 4 shows the upper portion of the garment bag from the rear when thecowl 16 has been completely detached from the front of the bag andpositioned and suspended on the rear of the bag as shown. The cowl 16 issuspended from the rear wall 26 of the main receptacle by means ofcompatable pairs of buckle latches 56 and buckle receivers 70, which areattached to the rear walls 54 and 26 of the cowl and main receptacle,respectively.

FIG. 5 shows the use of the cowl as a separate vertically disposedcontainer when it is removed completely from main receptacle 12. Thecowl is suspended by means of loop 60 from a conventional clothes hanger72 hanging from a closet bar 74. Access to the interior of the cowl isreadily gained by moving zipper slide member 76 downwardly to separatethe front wall members 50 and 52.

As disclosed, there are at least four principal options for using cowlmember 16. As shown in FIG. 1, the cowl member can be left intactsecured to the front of main receptacle 12. Alternatively, the cowlmember can be folded away for easy access to main receptacle 12, asshown in FIG. 3. If it is desired to maintain the cowl member in agenerally horizontal position, while still gaining ready access to theinterior of main receptacle 12, then the cowl member can be removed fromthe front of the main receptacle and attached to the rear thereof, asshown in FIG. 4. Finally, the cowl member can be totally removed fromthe main receptacle to position it in a vertical posture as shown inFIG. 5.

FIGS. 1, 3 and 6, illustrate the various components used for securingthe garment bag in a folded condition for transporting or storage. Thus,lower buckle latches 80, which are attached by flexible fabric webs 82to the peripheral seam 84 (which secures the various main receptaclewall panels together) are engaged with buckle receivers 86. The bucklereceivers 86 in turn are attached by means of flexible web 88 to seam84. Similar connections secure buckle latches 90 by means of flexiblewebs 92 to the front of the bag at seams 84 as shown in FIG. 1.

FIG. 6 shows the bag folded with the various buckle members secured atone side of the bag and corresponding members (not shown in FIG. 6) aresecured at the other side of the bag. When the bag is folded as shown inFIG. 6, hand grip 94 will be positioned at the top of the folded bag.Hand grip 94 is secured to strengthening member 96 which may include anadditional thickness of fabric or web material and also may include arigid bar or other member secured to the underside of the fabric to actas a stiffener.

A carrying loop or hanging loop 98 is also provided at the upper end ofthe main receptacle 12 attached to the seam between the rear wall panel26 and the peripheral wall panel 28. This loop permits the user to carrythe folded bag (as shown in FIG. 6) in an inverted position, if desired,and it also provides an alternative hanging device to use in place ofhanger hook 30, as shown in FIG. 3.

Many other uses and variations of the invention will be apparent tothose skilled in the art, and while specific embodiments of thisinvention have been described, these are intended for illustrativepurposes only. It is intended that the scope of the invention be limitedonly by the attached claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. A garment bag comprising:a vertically elongated main receptacle having generally rectangular, horizontal and vertical cross sections and including rear wall panel means, front wall panel means substantially parallel and spaced apart from said rear wall panel means, peripheral wall means connecting said rear and front wall panel means at their corresponding edges, zipper closure means running substantially vertically up said front wall panel means dividing said front wall panel means into two separable halves from the top to substantially the bottom thereof, said halves being affixed along their bottom edges and outside edges to said peripheral wall means, but being unattached along at least a portion of their top edges, said receptacle being constructed of collapsable material and being vertically foldable such that when folded, an upper portion of said receptacle faces and is aligned with a lower portion thereof, retaining means for securing said receptable in folded position, cowl means for covering the upper edge of said front wall panel means, and zipper means for detachably connecting said cowl means to said receptacle, said zipper means running along at least a substantial portion of the side edges and along the top edge of said cowl means, and along corresponding edge portions of said receptacle.
 2. The invention recited in claim 1 wherein said cowl means comprises a generally rectangular double-walled container having a front wall and a rear wall and further includes zipper closure means for entry and closure of said container.
 3. The invention recited in claim 2 wherein said zipper closure means runs diagonally across said front wall of said cowl means.
 4. The invention recited in claim 2 wherein said cowl means further includes fastening means affixed to the rear wall thereof for detachably securing said cowl means to said retaining means when said receptacle is in an unfolded position.
 5. The invention recited in claim 4 wherein said garment bag further includes means affixed to the top of said receptacle for suspending said bag vertically from a hanger bar and wherein said fastening means and said retaining means comprise compatible pairs of buckle latches and receivers positioned to align and buckle the rear wall of said cowl means to an upper end portion of the rear panel of said receptacle, whereby when said garment bag is suspended from a hanger bar, said vertical zipper closure means on the front of said receptacle is fully accessable from the front of said bag and said zipper closure means on said cowl means is fully accessable from the rear of said bag.
 6. The invention recited in claim 5 wherein said zipper closure means on said cowl means opens and closes diagonally across said front wall.
 7. The invention recited in claim 6 wherein said garment bag further includes hand grip means affixed adjacent the rear panel of said receptacle intermediate the ends thereof for carrying said bag when it is in a folded position.
 8. A garment bag comprising:a vertically elongated main receptacle having generally rectangular, horizontal, and vertical cross sections, and including rear wall panel means, front wall panel means substantially parallel and spaced apart from said rear wall panel means, .Iadd.and .Iaddend. peripheral wall means connecting said rear and front wall panel means at their corresponding edges, .[.and zipper closure means affixed to said front wall panel means for permitting and excluding access to the interior of said receptacle,.].said front wall panel means being affixed along its bottom edge and side edges to said peripheral wall means, but being unattached along at least a portion of its top edge, said receptacle being constructed of .[.collapsable.]. .Iadd.collapsible .Iaddend.material and being vertically foldable such that, when folded, an upper portion of said receptacle faces and is aligned with a lower portion thereof, retaining means for securing said receptacle in folded position, cowl means for covering the upper edge of said front wall panel means, and zipper means for detachably connecting said cowl means to said receptacle, said zipper means running along at least a substantial portion of the side edges and along the top edge of said cowl means, and along corresponding edge portions of said receptacle.
 9. The invention recited in claim 8 wherein said cowl means comprises a double-walled container having a front wall and a rear wall and zipper means for entry and closure thereof.
 10. The invention recited in claim 9 further comprising means adjacent at least one edge of said cowl means for securing the cowl means to said rear wall panel means when said bag is in unfolded position.
 11. The invention recited in claim 9 further including means affixed to said cowl means for suspending said cowl means vertically from a hanger when said cowl means is detached from said receptacle. 